There are thirty-one CWGC cemeteries
on the Gallipoli peninsula, and five memorials to the missing. During the course
of an average seven day stay, they can all be visited without any rushing round.
The only ones we had difficulty in getting to were 4th Battalion
Parade Ground and The Farm, both of which were down long and often difficult
goat tracks. The Farm was in May 2000 also poorly signposted, and we lost our
way at one point. But it was worth the trek – as are all these special gardens
of remembrance which do great credit to the work of the CWGC.

The majority are in the ANZAC
sector, as post-war the Australians made a conscious decision to have
battlefield cemeteries, where as the British chose to concentrate the majority
of their dead into larger cemeteries. The missing, the largest proportion of
those killed, are commemorated on the Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 and Lone Pine
Memorials at ANZAC, and on the Helles Memorial.

If you are used to the cemeteries
on the Western Front, you will observe some noticeable differences here. First,
there are no Crosses of Sacrifice: the cross is normally incorporated into the
wall of the cemetery. Headstones are smaller with no regimental badges, but
record the same details about the soldier, including a personal inscription from
the family, if there is one. Some cemeteries appear very small because there are
only a few headstones, but this is misleading as only the known casualties are
commemorated with a headstone; the unknowns are not marked except in the
original cemetery plan. A good example of this is The Farm where there are only
seven identified soldiers (and so only seven headstones), but there are more
than 600 unknowns buried here as well.

In each case, historical details of
the cemeteries are included, plus how to find them. Graves of particular
interest I noticed while visiting them are noted, but this is obviously a
personal choice.